Wireless networking is becoming more and more popular. As it gains in popularity, more companies are providing a range of products and introducing a variety of wireless networking standards to choose from. Those based upon the IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standard are dominant in the market, but how can one decide which standard to install?

802.11B
802.11B has been around longest. It is well supported and stable, supporting theoretical speeds up to 11Mbps. The advantages of this technology are price and compatibility. 802.11B hardware is widespread and extremely inexpensive compared to the other wireless alternatives. However, there are two distinct disadvantages to 802.11B: security and performance. There are many hacking tools designed around 802.11B networks, some of which detect wireless networks and use a GPS (Global Positioning System) to plot the location of each detected access point on a map. Performance is also an issue due to radio interference. With so many 802.11B access points in use today, it’s not uncommon for cross-talk or unexpected connections. Also, since 802.11B operates at 2.4GHz, communication can be hampered by interference from microwave ovens and 2.4GHz cordless phones.

802.11G
802.11G is an extension of 802.11B. It operates at 2.4GHz, which leaves it with the same vulnerabilities mentioned above. Its primary advantage is speed, with a theoretical maximum of 54Mbps. But this speed comes at a price. The bandwidth required for this communication allows only three 802.11G access points within a given area. The range of the 802.11G signal is also shorter

Fortunately, 802.11G is backward compatible with 802.11B. So, upgrading is a smooth process. 802.11G access points can be used in place of 802.11B access points, and all network clients will still be able to communicate on the network.

802.11A
802.11A is a completely different standard. While it can deliver data at up to 54 Mbps, it does this by combining multiple data channels together. In application, 802.11A delivers somewhere around 33Mbps, outperforming the B Standard. But it lacks the range of the other two. 802.11A operates with 12 non-overlapping channels at 5.8 GHz. This allows the implementation of up to 12 access points. Because of this operating frequency, 802.11A is not as susceptible to interference.

Making the decision
There are many factors in choosing a Wi-Fi infrastructure. 802.11A may be a good choice to new networks because it is receiving less attention from hackers. It is also less susceptible to interference. However, if you’ve already invested in an existing wireless network, 802.11G might be the more effective option. It will provide the speed of the A Standard with backward compatibility with common B Standard devices.

PART TWO: Introducing the Virtual PC

If you’ve needed to run multiple operating systems (OS) in the past, you’ve most likely discovered your options are limited. You could configure a complicated dual-boot system, but you’d have to reboot to access each different OS. If you needed to test network or Internet configurations, multiple machines were required. This is where Microsoft’s new Virtual PC comes in.

Virtual PC allows users to create virtual machines on the Windows desktop. It will run most common PC-based OS. These virtual systems can run by themselves or simultaneously in different windows. They can also be networked together, as though connected by a hub or switch.

Virtual PCs have many uses. They are great in a lab environment, where they can be reconfigured at will, allowing changes to hardware and network settings that would be overly time consuming on actual machines. If systems become unstable, you simply delete the file which contains the old configuration and rebuild. You can even continue to use other virtual machines, as well as your actual desktop OS, while reinstalling. Virtual PCs are also valuable when running legacy applications. You can run the more secure and reliable OS as the host, while running a virtual session of the legacy OS and its applications. Help desk operations can be simplified by allowing technicians to load virtual versions of each of their supported systems onto their desktops.

The system requirements for installing Virtual PC are minimal:  an AMD K7 or Pentium II class processor at 400MHz or higher and around 20MB of free disk space. Once the program is installed on the actual computer (the host machine), the remaining hardware requirements are dependant on the needs of the virtual (or guest) machine. The table lists the general requirements for the most popular OS. As you can see, the most important components are sufficient hard drive space and plenty of system memory. To determine the overall memory requirements, add the RAM requirement from each guest OS to the base of the host OS. If you want to run multiple guest OS at the same time, additional RAM is optimal.